The words we speak can impact a generation.

Yesterday, our YWAM team began a month of “Midday”, a time of joining together with intentionality as we seek God for how to love him and love others in this new season.  With regular focuses on worship, prayer, the word, and the rising generations, our hope is that we can lay down who we think we are and what we do, and be humbly willing to live into His invitation as one.

We spent time in Revelation 21 and 22, and a few were struck by the regular mention of “lies” and “liars”; as we read about the New Jerusalem and those who wouldn’t make it in, it could be easy to say, “I’m good, I’m not a murderer”, but harder to deny the many lies we’ve all told.

Lies come on wide spectrums, but all represent a rejection of Truth.  Some lies are immense, while others are simple.  Some are malicious, while others are meant to help.  We have all had moments where we spoke — or thought — something that was not actually true, and we often aren’t aware of the ramifications that can have.

This became clear as we began talking about the next generation.  Jesse Carmichael has felt led to dig deep into research on the upcoming generations, and one thing that caught his attention was that some research indicates that Generation Alpha’s framework for vocation is driven by finances.  This makes sense: after all, while older generations benefited from a healthy economy, the rising generations know a degree doesn’t guarantee a job, and a job doesn’t guarantee home ownership.

While this is true, several of us felt a strong conviction that our words impact the younger generations, and if those words are lies, we can do tremendous damage.  These young adults and teens are establishing worldviews and beliefs in an intensely formative period — the brain is not fully developed until the age of 24 — which means those of us who are older have a direct impact on how they see and understand the world.

If financial fear and financial frustration are guiding how the rising generations are shaping their adulthood, is that solely because of the economy, or do we carry some responsibility?

I believe that scripture is clear that “we do not need money, we need God”, enough that I wrote a book about it.  God has shown Himself as Provider in abundant and creative ways, that only sometimes utilized money.  Anecdotally, we have head stories of this provision extending beyond the Word into lives today.

I also believe we often live as though this is not true.  Many of our decisions are based not on a faith of what God can do, but what we want need (or more often want), and the normal way to get it.  Money shapes our careers, our choices, and our lifestyles more frequently than the invitations of scripture.  When financial fear and frustration increase, our words and thoughts become more focused on the importance of money than the capacity of our Father.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:10

The younger generations hear our words.  They see the impacts of our thoughts, the trajectory of our lives, and internalize it as not just reality, but truth.  They come to believe the need money, and that God’s role is to give it to us; their future become built around financial stability or wealth more than it is passages like Micah 6:8.

These mindsets did not come from them, but were given to them, not by God, but by us.

We carry an immense responsibility over the upcoming generations, and must humbly consider if our words and actions convey Truth.  If we convey misaligned beliefs about money, or control, or power, or comfort, or any number of things, we can shape a generation to pursue lies without realizing it.  If we are Christ-followers, we are Ambassadors of Him, which means with every word and thought we imply, “This is what Jesus would say, this is what Jesus would think.”

May we grow in honestly discerning what Jesus would say and think, so that we can understand the power of our words and use them wisely.

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14